Records of the Prerogative Court at Canterbury
The Borthwick Institute at York University
Norfolk Record Office online Will indexes
Wiltshire and Swindon online Will search (with some images - F )
Wills4All - a small but growing site for transcribed wills - F
Abstracts of Herefordshire Probate Records - F

Wills and Probate Records

Last Will and Testament

From Norman times, and until 1858, property and land belonging to deceased persons were disposed of in a Will, and responsibility for the processing of Wills was placed with royal courts.

The disposal of personal possessions, however, - cash, jewellery, tools of the trade, clothing, etc - was the responsibility of the Church. These items were disposed of in a Testament. Duty was payable to the Bishop, based on the value of the Testament.

Items in a Will were devised and in a Testament, were bequethed.

What we nowadays call a Will is correctly legally titled 'Last Will and Testament'.

Probate

Probate is the legal process of proving a Will's validity, and conferring on the executors the power to administer an estate.

All wills have to be proved, and after 1858 Courts of Probate were formed, and the responsibility for the process became theirs.

What can I learn about my ancestors from their Wills?

Apart from learning about the material wealth of your ancestors, Wills can tell you a lot about your family. They reveal the social status of individuals and may help to confirm family relationships.

You may find family members who have been cut out of a Will, and possibly also the reason for it.

Be careful, though, as terms such as 'mother', 'father', 'son' or 'daughter' may have been used in reference to in-laws as well as blood relatives. The term 'cousin' was often used for a variety of people, sometimes not related in any way at all.

As in the interpretation of any documentation, it's important not to make certain assumptions.

If no land or property was mentioned in a Will, it doesn't necessarily mean that there wasn't any. It could have been that it was passed on before death.

Daughters may have received settlements on marriage, and then only received a token in a Will.

Widows were often provided for before their husbands died and may have received no mention at all in their Will.

The language of Wills

Until 1733 Wills (and many other legal documents in the UK) were written in Latin. Even after that time, when they were written in English, they were difficult to read and understand, partly because of the style of the handwriting, and partly because of the terminology used.

Reading old-style handwriting is a challenge, and if you would like to learn how to do it, there is an excellent online palaeography (study of old handwriting) tutorial on the National Archives' website. In addition to helping you with Wills, you may come across hand-written parish registers and census records that this can help you with.

For those of you not inclined to do it yourself, a professional genealogist can do it for you.

Even if you overcome the difficulties of reading the writing, there is wording that is particular to wills. Some of the more likely terms you will come across are listed below:

Administrator - a person legally appointed to manage the estate, usually of someone who has died intestate
Beneficiary - a person who benefits in the will
Bequest - a gift of possessions given to someone in a will
Chattels - items of personal property, but not freehold land
Codicil - an addition or a change to a will, made some time after the original
Decedent - the deceased person
Devise - a gift of property in a will
Estate - all the property and assets of the testator, including land, buildings, bank accounts, proceeds of insurance policies, and personal effects
Executor/Executrix - the person who manages the estate of the deceased
Guardian - a person legally entrusted to look after the decedent's children, or manage their affairs
Heir - someone entitled to inherit property or possessions, either by law or by the terms of a will
Intestate - when someone dies without leaving a will
Issue - the children, and their descendents, of the decedent
Minor - a person under the legal age of consent
Next of kin - the closest relative. The person entitled to inherit the estate of a decedent who dies intestate
Late - recently deceased
Legacy - a gift of money or property left to someone in a will
Probate - the legal process of 'proving' a will's validity
Proved Will - a will that has been established as being genuine, through the process of probate
Testator - the person making the will
Trust - a document that provides for property or assets to be held by someone on someone else's behalf
Witness - a person present at the signing of a will

Finding Wills before 1858

The country was divided in two provinces - York and Canterbury. Each was presided over by an archbishop.
The provinces were split into dioceses, each with at least two bishops.
The dioceses were split into archdeaconries
These were further split into rural archdeaconries

In total there were over 300 church courts, the lowest of which was the archdeacon's court. Probate was granted here to people who died in the local area and were of very small means.

The diocesan courts (also Bishops' courts, or Consistory courts) granted probate where a person owned property in more than one archdeaconry.

If property was owned in more than one diocese, a Will would have been approved at the highest level - either the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) or the Prerogative Court of York (PCY). The PCC covered the South of England and all of Wales, and the PCY had jurisdiction over Northern England.

The most senior of the two courts was PCC, and as well as proving the Wills of the wealthy in its area of jurisdiction, also proved those of people who died while out of the country, and thus holds many Wills for soldiers and sailors, whether rich or poor.

Where can I obtain copies of Wills?

Wills proved in the PCC are held in the National Archives.

Wills proved by PCY are held at the The Borthwick Institute at York University. There is neither an online search, or online availability, and to see the records you will need to travel to the University. They also offer a postal search service and will, for a fee, conduct a search for records on your behalf. There are more details if you follow the link at the top of the page.

Wills proved in other courts are available in record offices across the country.

There will be some guesswork to do, unless you are sure you know where your ancestor died, and how much property he/she had.

There are only a few will indexes online, and anywhere you find them there will be a cost to obtain a copy.

What about after 1858?

On 12th January 1858 responsibility was transferred to civil courts of probate. Copies of all wills after this date are held at the Principal Probate Registry in London, and the originals are held at a District Probate Registry.

Each year since 1858 an annual index, called the National Probate Calendar, has been issued, giving details of every will.

A copy of every Calendar is held at the Principal Probate Registry, and these indexes are available for public inspection. On finding the record you require you can order a copy, either in person, or by post.